The large amounts of resources invested in film production makes it imperative that film content be protected from unauthorized copying or illegal distribution. Encryption and encoding techniques exist for protecting digital forms of film content. These techniques do not protect content on film negatives from unauthorized copying. Processing of film negatives by laboratories must be secure to prevent unauthorized copying or pirating of copyrighted film content.
Security markings or codes have been used in positive film prints, but these do not aid in identifying DVDs or computer files of motion pictures processed by laboratories from which unauthorized copying of film content occurred. One aspect of preventing unauthorized copying is to trace the source of the film processing laboratory that had possession of a film negative from which content was pirated or copied. Previous coding of film negatives required producing defects into the film, which may be deemed unacceptable to creative teams at film or motion picture studios.
Accordingly, there is a need for easy identification of the facility or laboratory in possession of a particular element of a film negative processed that was used to create a unauthorized copying of copyrighted film content.